What They Did for Love by Denny Martin Flinn

Now, if you are wanting to be an auteur…entirely writing and directing your own stuff… NO RULES apply! Do whatever you want, however you want. When possible, try to track down copies of the original scripts and not those that are officially published in book form. He next turned to mystery fiction, writing the novels San Francisco Kills (1990) and Killer Finish (1991). I Can Draw Star Trek: The Spacecraft and Other Devices of Star Trek. They don’t want any camera directions, and the like. Flinn wrote the 1989 book What They Did for Love: The Untold Story Behind the Making of A Chorus Line, covering the story behind the production of the 1970s musical A Chorus Line. Nicholas Meyer, Denny Martin Flinn & Leonard Nimoy. But, be careful…because most published screenplays (i.e., those in book form) for films you are familiar with are generally just transcriptions of the films the way they appear on screen (complete with camera movement descriptions, etc.) and that is NOT the way the studios want submitted scripts to be written. I am talking about the page structure and format.Īlso if you are wanting to strictly be a screenwriter, reading screenplays for films you are familiar with can be helpful, as well (like someone already said above). All that point by point, 3 act formula stuff is just bullshit. Keep in mind that when I am talking about structure and format I am not talking about story content or structure. Personally speaking, I feel that beyond helping the reader get some good ideas on screenplay structure, or format, I don’t know that books really help all that much. writing with hopes of selling your scripts to a studio, or producer, or director), then the books are going to be of some help to you as far as getting you on track with the so-called “proper format” that the “industry” requires. If you want to strictly be a screenwriter (i.e. Do you want to be a screenwriter or an auteur? In fact, I think it is impossible to make it such a black and white situation.įor some, the books may work…for others, not at all.Ī lot depends on what you want to do. This is a tough question to give a simple YES or NO answer to.

What They Did for Love by Denny Martin Flinn